


Failed Confession

by andrea_deer



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU, Addiction, Angst, Cullen critical, Evil!Cullen, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Samson Commander of The Inquistion AU, Villain!Cullen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28863033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrea_deer/pseuds/andrea_deer
Summary: "I have faced armies with You as my shield, and though I bear scars beyond counting, nothing can break me except Your absence.""You really haven't changed much, have you?" Samson asked.Commander of the Inquisition confronts captured Corypheus' general.
Relationships: Cullen Rutherford & Raleigh Samson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	Failed Confession

**Author's Note:**

> [Dragon Age Januarry Challenge](https://other-cullen-ficrecs.tumblr.com/post/639234172963127296/feastforthefallen-dragon-age-january-2021) prompt 9: Confession - finally inspired me to finish and post this.

The good part about the dungeons as far as Samson was concerned was that he never had to go there. They were damp and cold. The part of them with a giant gaping hole was unused and separated from the others, behind the closed doors but regardless - it was there. The single set of stone walls and one wooden door could only do so much faced with the abyss in the middle of a goddamn mountain, covered in snow and ice so thick it probably never thewed off. The summer months were starting and it certainly showed no signs of it. Samson knew about the goddamn hole, he explored the castle as much as possible where they got here. Making note of all possible exits like a rat on a sinking ship. He will not be surprised by another archdemon. They had fools brave enough to fight it already. The snowed-in canyon was noted as one of the more extreme options. He hadn't come to look at it in months.

They didn't have many prisoners, usually only those awaiting trial. The inquisitor didn't like the idea of having evil-doers locked up so close and Samson could hardly fault her for that. They weren't playing with petty criminals. And the enemies of the calibre they attracted were better dealt swiftly or at least thrown as far away as possible.

"You have walked beside me. Down the paths where a thousand arrows sought my flesh. You have stood with me when all others have forsaken me."

Cullen had to be kept in the last cell they've had. Right next to the wall that separated them from the frozen abyss. No one had any idea how fast and how easily the red lyrium would spread, how strong its effects were. There were a few minor criminals in the first few cells. They didn't deserve the taint the templar brought with him.

"I have faced armies with You as my shield, and though I bear scars beyond counting, nothing can break me except Your absence."

"You really haven't changed much, have you?" Samson asked. 

He knew he needed to speak with Corypheus' commander. He was preparing in his head possibly conversations, what he would say, how Cullen could react... In this all insanity he somehow did not expect to see Cullen in the cell. Of course, he knew who the man was since he saw him standing at Corypheus' side during the attack on Haven. But somewhere between talking about his armour and fighting all the monstrous red templars, he switched into thinking about him as Corypheus' commander, not his old roommate and a devoted stuck up.

Now Cullen kneeled in his cell, praying to the Maker like a man certain of his worth and if not for the faint red glow, it would look almost nostalgic. How many times did Samson come back late at night to find Cullen kneeling and talking to the god who abandoned him in his nightmares? How many times the litany of those prayers woke him up in the morning? 

Cullen's eyes were red again, though hardly from the tears shed while chased by old memories.

"I could say the same about you."

His voice sounded normal and it shouldn't be so jarring. At least the red templars were monstrous, barely resembled humans they were before. Cullen stood up from his kneeling and took a step closer to the bars and he looked normal. His voice was his own, his eyes were red tinted but not shining and terrifying like Meredith's. He didn't have crystals of the bloody thing sticking out of him. He still carried on his stupid templar armour, though it was obviously altered. Still, the templar's insignia were unmistakable.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't."

"You're hardly in the position to pass judgment, Cullen. You know, rogue templar, practically vibrating with red lyrium? Tell me, did the lack of the usual stuff really made you that desperate?"

"Do I look desperate to you?" the bastard asked with a small smile. "Do I look like I'm 'vibrating' with red lyrium?"

And that was a thing.... he didn't. He stood straight, looking powerful and in control. Like the world itself would bend around him and he would remain firm. It had to be at least two days since he took red lyrium... And the effect was hardly visible.

"Do I look like a templar reject, so desperate for even the smallest doze that I would beg for it like a hungry dog on the street?"

"Now you're just getting personal."

Cullen smirked quietly.

"You can play strong all you want, the effects will start soon and you know it. If red stuff is so much more powerful... The withdrawal will have to hurt even worse."

"I guess you're more of an expert on the subject than I am."

"You don't know half of it," Samson gulped, ignoring Cullen's inquiring look or the hum of lyrium around him. 

Even after two days and standing a few meters away the stuff Cullen took was so strong it sang from within his blood, from his bloody armour, from his bones... If Samson would cut him, rip him apart, the quiet song would sound so clearly, calling for him loud and clear as it used to, feeling him with the strength he missed so desperately and needed right now. Not to feel better, to survive to fight Corypheus to do his job, if he could just- He shook his head fast and stepped away from the cell.

He didn't even realize how close he got or when Cullen moved closer to the bars but suddenly Cullen's hands struck out and he grabbed Samson's neck and coat, drugging him close and smashing his head against the bars. Why the bloody fuck didn't he put on the armour?! he cursed as his ribs were pressed painfully against the metal bars. Whatever red lyrium was left in Cullen's veins it was giving him an unfair advantage and practically inhumane strength.

"You are weak, Samson. You've always been too weak."

The cell bars creaked under pressure. 

Without thinking Samson turned his head and bit into the hand that was holding him as much as he could while slamming his hand against the bar to cause as much noise as possible. Cullen gasped in pain but fought hard to keep his grip until an arrow hit his shoulder with enough force for him to step back a bit.

Samson pushed away from the bars, breathing hard, he glanced back surprised to see Varric next to a nervous-looking guard, Bianca still aimed at their prisoner. He nodded in thanks before turning back toward the cell. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of an audience for this particular fuck up of an interrogation. Cullen wasn't going to confess shit. He wasn't the type to be bought or threatened and if there was ever a time to sow the seeds of doubt in his mind it seemed to have passed.

He was breathing hard and bleeding from a shoulder and still looking strong and certain as if he was on duty guard or just been praised by Meredith in front of everyone, so bloody proud he grew a few inches taller.

"Is that what it gives you?" asked Samson, breathing shallowly, his ribs bruised and hurting. "The certainty? Finally, something supporting and fueling your insane devotion?"

"I was always certain of my devotion. What it gives me is the power to follow through. It does not change me, it does not make me anything, not more than a good blade makes someone a warrior."

"You were a cowering little shit always buying every bullshit they fed you like a virgin in a brothel," Samson cut through. "You wouldn't know right and wrong if they hadn't fucking labelled them for you. Always looking for a bigger boss to follow. The extent of your free will is to just pick a new hand to hold your leash."

The furious scowl was the first proper emotion he got from Cullen, he thought almost proudly even as he licked his lips nervously and paused suddenly. Maker that felt... He didn't realize when he closed his eyes in bliss but he snapped them open to see Cullen's feral grin.

"Dusty?" Varric asked cautiously, clearly bothered by Cullen's reaction even more than Samson's behaviour.

Samson just waved him off, his mind racing as his heart bit harder. He actually bit Cullen enough to draw blood, he could test the lyrium on his tongue, singing so close... Cullen's blood sipped from his shoulder wound as well. The song was spilling around them.

"Good, isn't it? If you begged without a shame for the regular lyrium, I can't even imagine what you would do for this."

A lot. Samson knew this already, the merest drops felt like a miracle, he thought as he tried hard not to swallow, the saliva gathering in his mouth at rapid speed. It would be so simple to give in, and it would feel so amazingly, blissfully good...

"Don't pretend to fight it, Samson. We both know you better than this."

That ridiculous, self-righteous tone that drove Samson insane for years.

He spat in the templar's face.

That felt good too.

"Make sure his cell door is steady," he said to the guard, walking away from the cell, "get few others to help you. It would probably be best to keep him bound until the trial. If he offers any information, write it down or call me directly."

"Yes, sir."

"Goodnight, Cullen."

The hit against the cell bars was strong enough to rattle them and make the hinges whine, supporting Samson's worries.

"You know I'm right, Samson! Meredith was right, she just couldn't handle this lyrium but I can and I can do something right with this power while you and your Inquisition support the abominations that-"

Samson let out a small breath as he closed the door behind them, muffling the sounds of Cullen's shouts.

"Does he realize how much sense it makes to side with a magister turned to god and or archdemon to fight mages?"

Samson paused and looked back at Varric, not realizing before the dwarf left before him.

"Cullen? Aware of his own hypocrisy? Don't be weird, Tethras."

Varric chuckled with little humour.

"You know, the worst part is, I feel like he could be saved... Not now, probably. But earlier. At some point, maybe."

Samson shrugged.

"Probably. With the right person holding the leash, he could be a bloody hero. Shit luck, isn't it?"

He walked away from Varric, ignoring his look or the need to spit again at least until he got outside. He used every secret route and not well-known passage he was aware of to get to his room without encountering anyone. By the time he slid down to the floor next to his bed, he was shaking. He reached beneath the bed to get the bottle kept there and drunk greedily chasing down the taste of lyrium, pretending it was an evening as any other and the song still thrilling in his ears was no less fake.

**Author's Note:**

> Months ago I discussed at length the idea of switching up Samson and Cullen's roles in Inquisition. I see a lot of people intrigued in the idea for the sake of Samson but I'm mostly here for evil!Cullen. *shrugs*  
> My main issue with this story is that when I started writing it I was still very much obsessed (I still am but slightly less) with the fic "Stuck on a Puzzle" by thespectaclesofthor and I fear this scene reminds me too much of the similar scene in that fic? But there are so many "Cullen confronts Samson in the dungeons" scenes I can't even be certain. But just in case I wanted to come clean that my brain might just refuse to ever move on from that fic so some inspiration is unavoidable. It's still an entirely different scene, so there.


End file.
